Aelia
by Jiyle
Summary: The Wizarding World celebrates its Savior as the one who delivered them from an era of war and terror. What they don't know is that as the years pass, their Savior is caught in a downward spiral, falling to the darkness within.
1. Prologue

**I do not own anything**

**This fic is actually the developed version of the plot bunny that inspired Liana Kuchiki in the first place. I don't have the entire thing written out yet (though I do have the outline up to fourth year), but I feel like I'll get bored with it if I wait until I finish to publish, so I'm doing it now.**

**The next chapter will be up when I finish writing first year.**

* * *

The heavy patter of rain was all that could be heard in the quaint village of Godric's Hollow, the only sound above it being the occasional roar of thunder, coming seconds after lightning lit up the sky in a frighteningly silver hue. The residents of the town were inside, safely tucked away in their cozy houses with warmth and light and shelter.

No one saw the figure hurrying through the streets, shivering in little more than a light cloak as she (and it was a woman – a heavily pregnant woman, at that) splashed through the great, quivering puddles of water. The figure ducked her head as the sky above her was illuminated once more, followed quickly by a loud, booming crash, and stumbled towards the door of one of the houses. She raised her hood, just enough to get a clear view of what was in front of her, and glanced over her shoulder to make sure she hadn't been seen before knocking hastily on the door.

She muffled a cough into her sleeve, watching the door in desperate anxiety before knocking again. She braced herself against the door frame as dark spots colored her vision, accompanied by white noise that roared in her ears, hoping and praying that someone would open it, that someone would help her and her unborn child (or was it children? Her midriff was so large she couldn't be sure be due) so that her departure ("_abandonment," _something inside her whispered. "_You abandoned your husband. Just as you abandoned your sister."_) would not have been for nothing.

She had closed her eyes to fight off a sudden bout of dizziness when the door finally opened, revealing a wary but curious redheaded woman. The cloaked woman smiled faintly, thanking any higher being that may exist for answering her prayers.

"Yes? Who are you? What are you doing – "

"_Merci, ma cousine."_

Lily Potter watched in horror as the woman in front of her slumped onto her doormat, collapsing into unconsciousness.

~oOo~

A grandfather clock ticked heavily, loud in the silence. Lily didn't say anything as she entered the living room with a tea service. She set it down on the coffee table and handed one of the cups to her guest, who was sitting on the couch with a quilt over her legs, and another to her husband, who was sitting beside her on the loveseat, before taking one for herself.

"Let me get this straight," James said slowly, looking intently at the raven haired woman. "You're saying that your name is… uh… Hisana Kuchiki, and you're some distant relative of my wife's?" He stumbled over his words several times, and not only because of the strange name. The woman was capable of speaking in English, but it was Old English, which he had a very hard time understanding. The only other languages she knew were French and Japanese, so he had to use his long unused knowledge of the French language to try to understand her.

"Yes," she said softly, taking a small sip of the tea and smiling at its warmth. "I was born as Hélène Valois. The Evans family is descended from one of our branches that moved to England many years ago. I found myself in Japan many years ago and decided to take on the name Hisana. Kuchiki is the name of my husband's family."

"Okay." He scratched the back of his head in bemusement. "So you're obviously pregnant." He glanced at the woman's abdomen, which was bulging greatly on either side and appeared to be quite heavy. "But your husband and his family don't know."

"No, they don't. The Kuchikis are an old, aristocratic family, and they resent me for marrying the only heir to their main branch when I was nothing but a commoner… I thought that since Cousin Lily is in a similar situation, I might have help here." She looked down at the tea, seemingly very timid.

James sighed loudly and ran a hand through his hair. "So you think that your in-laws don't want you to have a child because you're "impure," and that they'll do anything to make sure that happens?"

She nodded gravely. "Yes. I have not told my husband, but it has happened before. I fell ill very often when I was with his family, often after they serve me a specific tea. It is poison, I am sure. I have used one of those incidents to fake my death and escape here to find Cousin Lily. The family wants me dead as it is – if they were to learn that I was with child…" She hesitated, unable or unwilling to say more. James understood anyway. If they learned, both she and her child would be sure to die.

He sighed again before turning to his wife, who had stayed silent during the entire conversation, and explained the circumstances surrounding the raven haired woman before them.

"That's horrible," Lily stated, shocked that anyone would do such a thing to their own family. "James, we have to help her!"

He shook his head. "Normally, Lils, I'd agree with you, but you have to remember that we're at war! What if she's a death eater?"

She huffed and rolled her eyes. "What do you think I've been doing while you two were talking? I checked her arm – there's no Dark Mark. She needs help, James."

"Okay, okay." He held his hands up in surrender before bringing his attention back to his guest, who was watching them interact curiously. "_Nous vous aiderons," _he said. "We'll help you."

She sagged with relief and gave a smile full of hope and thanks. "Thank you, thank you!" she repeated.

"How exactly do you want us to help?"

A pause. "I would like for Cousin Lily to raise my children as her own."

~oOo~

Preparations were made quickly. James and Lily were quick to tell their friends of Lily's "pregnancy," even going as far as to allow the editor of _The Daily Prophet _to post it in the Sunday edition ("We need more things to celebrate in these dark times," he had explained). The rest of the Marauders threw a party in response to the news, inviting Frank and Alice Longbottom as well, as they were expecting a child at roughly the same time. Hisana was hidden away in the Potter Ancestral Manor, and James and Lily joined her when Lily was due to start "showing."

The goblins were informed, as were the house elves, but were told to keep it to themselves. It was agreed that, for the sake of keeping the secret, the children (as Hisana was having twins) would be dual heirs to the Potter fortune. Hisana nearly cried when they approached her with the decision.

The elves decorated the nursery in light blues and pink as the time approached, even going as far as to make a replica in Godric's Hollow. They also ignored all whines and requests and demands to see the baby bump from their friends.

"Have you thought of names?" Lily asked one day.

"The boy shalt be Kiyoshi – pure. In Britannia, he shall be Hadrian Theodore," Hisana smiled softly, looking down towards her stomach. "The girl shalt be Ayumi – stroll. Here, Elladora Aelia, she shall be."

The witch took a minute to digest and comprehend what she had said before saying, "Those are wonderful names. Is there a reason for those names in particular?"

"Kiyoshi and Ayumi were the names of two of the greatest Kuchikis," she explained. "Kiyoshi shalt be great, like the Emperor Hadrian who built a grand barrier on these isles. Elladora was the name of Cousin James' great-great-aunt. I wish to honor him and his kin."

"That's very kind," she said. "What about Theodore and Aelia?"

"Elladora cometh partially from the Greek Theodoros, and Aelia is derived from Aelius – the family of Emperor Hadrian."

"The names mirror each other," Lily observed. "Why is that?"

"My children shall meet one day their father," she sighed. "To keep their paths from crossing would be as difficult as keeping Helios off of his chariot. No mortal lives eternally, and they shall find each other in the next life, may hap before. The stars shalt command it." She stared out the window for a minute before continuing to speak. "My children can only be safe until they grow. When that day of destiny dawns, I wish that they know their duty to one another. The brother must protect his sister, and the sister shalt support her brother. Such is the way of kin and blood."

"I see." She squeezed the other woman's hand, smiling warmly. "It's wonderful that you want your children to look out for each other and chose their names to reflect that. What do you plan to do once they're born, though? I don't think you want to stay here for the rest of your life."

Hisana laughed, "Pray, a long life I shall live! Nay, when my children are safe and protectéd in thy arms, Cousin, I shall leave once more. To my homeland, I shall travel, and I shalt hide from those with wicked minds. I shall see my children once more, if the stars allow, but I am content to live and die without them if they shall survive their demon uncles."

"How sad." She took her hand and held it to her own chest, meeting her eyes and saying vehemently. "You will know your children, I promise. We will send you pictures and portraits, and have them send letters when they're old enough! You won't miss their childhood, Hisana."

"O what a thing to say! Such a gentle bird you are, Cousin Lily," she exclaimed. "Oh!"

The redhead was startled. "What is it? Is something wrong, Hisana?"

The black haired woman looked down before smiling broadly. "Nay, Cousin, all is right, but we must be quick! The children cometh!"

~oOo~

The labor and delivery went without incident, though it was imperative that the only attendants Hisana had were the house elves, as she was adamant that medi-witches and wizards couldn't be trusted with knowledge of her being there. Just before the strike of midnight when July would turn to August, Kiyoshi and Ayumi were born.

Both children had a fuzz of midnight black hair atop their heads and pale, ivory skin, but that was about where their similarities ended.

Kiyoshi was a quiet baby with large, curious gray eyes. Hisana insisted that they came from his father, and that his demeanor was inherited from his grandfather.

Ayumi was loud and happy with sparkling emerald eyes the exact shade as Lily's. The Potters were surprised to see this, but it was explained that her eye color came from Hisana's father, and perhaps Lily's Valois blood was stronger than they thought?

The birth certificates were filled and signed with the children's true names and parents, though later charmed by Lily so it seemed the two were truly Potters. They went in a locked box that was shrunken and stored in Gringotts, so they couldn't be found and tampered with.

The next month passed blissfully as the three played with the twins, though a cloud of melancholy hung over their heads at Hisana's approaching departure. The Potters were going to miss the woman, though they all promised to write each other often, and perhaps take a vacation to France so they might have tea.

"Do not say anything foolish around the children," she whispered when the day finally came. "A Kuchiki can remember anything he hast lived. I look forward to seeing you again. May the stars smile upon you all."

The next week, they moved back to Godric's Hollow.

~oOo~

"Are you sure this is the best place for them?"

"They are the only family they have left."

"I've watched them all day, Albus. They're the worst kind of muggles imaginable!"

"It would be enough to turn any child's head! Famous before they can walk and talk! Famous for something they won't even remember! Can you see how much better off they'll be, growing up away from all that until they're ready to take it?"

"Yes – yes, you're right, of course."

~oOo~

In Soul Society, a black haired man held in a groan, staring in frustration at the papers in front of him. The war that had held his people in strife had ended two years ago, and he had found evidence of his wife's survival at about the same time. He had followed the trail to a place called Little Whinging in the United Kingdom, but she wasn't there.

He sighed. He might as well see if there was a lead. The next day, he would go to England.

* * *

**To those of you wondering why Hisana went to Lily instead of Petunia, Hisana had a bit over fifty years to research what had happened to her family. She would have had enough time to check out all of the surviving descendents of the Valois line, since I doubt the Evans are the only existing branch. She wanted her children to grow up in a house where they'll grow up well, not spoiled like Petunia's _already _doing to Dudley.**

**Hadrian and Elladora are, in a sense, Harry. I decided that I would essentially split Harry's personality into the two of them, which you'll hopefully see in later chapters. Put into Hogwarts terms, Hadrian is primarily the Ravenclaw and Slytherin portions of Harry, and Elladora is the Hufflepuff and Gryffindor parts. You might not see it anyway, though. I can't claim to be a good enough author to be able to analyze a character's personality carefully enough to be able to isolate characteristics and consistently show them split them between two people.**


	2. Halloween-Hogwarts I

**I finally updated! Yeah... I'm surprised too. Don't expect any more very soon, though. School started up again and I suddenly have a lot less free time than I'm used to, so it'll probably be a while until I'm done with the next chapter.**

* * *

All was quiet on Privet Drive on the cold, sleepy morning of November 1st. The identical houses were all perfectly aligned and perfectly silent, and the light snow that covered the street made it seem almost picturesque. That is, until a shrill shriek rang through the air.

Mrs. Number Four, a Mrs. Petunia Evans Dursley, had come out to leave the bottles for the milkman, and stumbled over a lump of blankets on her doorstep – no, not a lump. A basket. A basket with two children inside! After reading the letter that was tucked into the blanket, she found herself at a dilemma. She certainly didn't want the freak spawn of her freak sister, but she knew the sorts of things _their _sort could do if she refused. So she did the sensible thing – hid them in the boot cupboard under the stairs. Out of sight, out of mind.

~oOo~

"_What a bizarre place," _Byakuya Kuchiki thought as he surveyed the street in front of him. His search for his wife had led him here, to a place called Privet Drive where all the houses looked to be copies of each other. If not for his experience with such places (as it was a wonderful psychological ploy when one was being attacked), he wouldn't have been able to tell one building from the next.

He strolled up to one of the houses (the plaque said four, though he really couldn't care less) and slipped through the door, closing it quickly behind him.

Looking around, he took in the entryway in minute detail, searching for something, anything, that might hint as to where his wife was. It was clean, he noted, and rather boring. Pictures of an obese man with a large mustache and a skinny woman with a long neck lined the walls and tables, almost always with scenes of a fat baby in various stages of a tantrum.

Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary, so he reached out with his reiatsu instead, searching for even the slightest hint of his Hisana. He had gotten as far as the boot cupboard when he sensed something alarming. Two beings were in there, emitting a presence that was disturbingly similar to his own and his wife's, yet with something else mixed in. Quickly, he opened the door and looked inside, ignoring the undignified position the action required.

The cupboard was fairly normal as well – full of cleaning products, old shoes, and spiders. Dust layered everything inside in varying degrees of disuse, everything but the basket where the reiatsu was coming from. Carefully, he removed it from the shelf and cupboard, closing the trapezoidal door and setting it down on the shiny waxed floor.

Inside, to his disbelief, were children. Not even children – they were infants! Similar alike in size and appearance to be twins, though fraternal, they were entwined together in a mess of slumbering limbs. One of them yawned, blearily opened its eyes, and Byakuya found himself staring at the spitting image of himself at that age. Disturbed, he quickly cataloged the best route of action before gently picking up the basket.

If all went well, it seemed the Elders could stop bothering him about an heir now.

~oOo~

Farther north in Scotland, an old man in a castle smiled sadly as he stared at an old letter. It was from an old student whom he had been very close to. Regrettably, as of earlier that week, that student and his wife could not be counted among the living.

What a mess things had become! Just a few days ago, he had thought the Potters' home in Godric's Hollow to be impenetrable, but a simple misplacement in trust had ended with three wizards and thirteen muggles dead as well as two children orphaned. It had been with a heavy heart that he left the young Potter twins on the doorstep of their aunt. Perhaps Minerva had been right, and it wasn't the best place for them, but what else could he do? It was the safest place for both the children and the Greater Good.

He was shaken out of his thoughts when several monitoring devices he had had placed just a few days ago started squealing and whirring. With a speed and agility not usually seen in one his age, he jumped to his feet and hurried over to inspect them. At once, they sputtered and died. His heart sank.

Maybe it hadn't been the safest place after all.

~oOo~

_**CHILDREN-WHO-LIVED DISAPPEARED**_

_**WIZARDING PUBLIC IN FRENZY**_

_**DUMBLEDORE CALLS FOR SEARCH PARTIES**_

_**O WHERE, O WHERE HAVE OUR SAVIORS GONE?**_

~oOo~

The young lord found himself sitting at the exact same desk with the exact same papers and the exact same frustration that he had had just a few days ago. Where was she?

He sighed and glanced to the side of his office where he had had a large crib placed, the only significant change. It had only taken a few minutes at Squad Four to confirm that the two children he had found in a boot cupboard were his, and he had wasted no time in naming the boy his heir – though they still did not have a suitable name to call either of the children. According to the letter he had found with them, they were called Hadrian and Elladora, English names. Unacceptable for the heir and princess of the Kuchiki Clan. For now, both of the sleeping children were considered nameless while the Elders scoured the family tree for fitting appellations.

What was strange was that, for some reason, they were both in gigais – it seemed that they had been born in them. Captain Unohana had said that their mother had likely been in one herself when going through labor, but she couldn't understand why they would be left in them. She advised that he leave it be for the time being. Such a shock from adjusting from one state of being to another would no doubt scare the children, and she had no idea what sort of side-effects it might have on them.

But at least they were healthy. At least the sojourn to England hadn't been completely pointless.

He stared blankly at the files in front of him again before pushing them away and pulling another stack towards him. He had used up too much time as it was. His sister had asked him to help plan her wedding with the Kurosaki boy in three months, and he did not intend to break his promise to her.

Not that Kurosaki deserved her.

~oOo~

It was months later when he received the letter – not too long after he had reluctantly sent his sister and now-brother-in-law off on their honeymoon, in fact. It was from one of his first cousins, Kimiko, the daughter of second-oldest of his father's younger brothers.

The fact that he had gotten such a missive at all was very strange. Outside of the compulsory reports he received from the head of each branch of the family, he rarely ever received mail from those relatives who lived outside of the Seireitei. It was a bit of a hassle, really. Only the main branch of the family was allowed to live in the Seireitei on account of overpopulation issues, so everyone else lived amongst the humans in the World of the Living. Generally, each branch of the family kept their lines in the same human country, unless there was war of some sort or the boundary lines were otherwise redrawn. The effort it took to get mail to the Japan, which was where the second-most important branch lived, and then to the Seireitei made it unworth the effort of sending meaningless pleasantries through the mail system.

Whatever it was that Kimiko was concerned with, it must have been urgent, otherwise she would have simply told her father and let him deal with him.

"_But Uncle Yuudai's family lives in France," _he thought. "_What could have happened that would require my attention?"_

With that concern in mind, he opened the letter and started reading.

_ To my most honorable cousin, Byakuya-sama,_

_ I must beg your pardon for forgoing the formalities normally expected in such a missive, but it is in the deepest echelons of confusion that I write to you. There are strange things happening here in France that I feel cannot escape your attention._

_ Several months ago, a woman appeared in what I found to be where the old Valois hôtel used to be before the French Revolution. Father says that she is a soul, but the humans can see her, thus I must assume she is inhabiting a gigai. The human policier have been trying to capture her on account of loitering for so long, but no matter what they try to do, she refuses to leave and evades them. She avoids us as well._

_ The entire situation is very odd. Yesterday, I was going through the area with my father in an effort to find her. We managed to track her down to where a portion of the manor house that still stands – albeit in horrible conditions – but she disappeared._

_ Before she fled, I managed to see her face. I am not sure how this is possible, but I am certain of what I saw. The woman was Hisana-sama._

_ I do not know if my father has told you of this development, but please do not be angry with him if he hasn't. We are all very confused._

_ Your loyal cousin,_

_ Kimiko_

~oOo~

With the deliverance of such news, the household was in near chaos as the captain prepared to leave for France and made his excuses to the head captain. A butterfly was sent to his uncle's family, and the servants began stocking up on supplies. Byakuya's personal assistant collaborated with the children's nanny, as their father was reluctant to leave them behind.

A week after the arrival of the letter, the family senkaimon was directed to France. The black haired man brushed quickly through the formalities, impatient to see his wife after so many years. He took only the first night to settle into his uncle's property before demanding to be taken to where she had last been seen.

Kimiko, his young, quiet, and very pretty cousin, was the one to lead him, softly explaining, "I have been leaving food and water and clothing near the ruins of the hôtel, Byakuya-sama, so I know the area very well. I could not bear the thought of Hisana-sama dying of starvation or hunger or cold as the result of my inaction."

He gazed at the snowy February morning. "Yes. I fear what may have happened if you had not aided her."

She ducked her head demurely, knowing that was the closest to gratitude her stern relative could express.

Given the season, both Kuchikis were heavily bundled in layers of clothing. She kept her gaze firmly on her muffler as she headed towards where she had last left the care packages, finally stopping just inside an old brick building. "I left the basket there," she said, gesturing to the center of what had been the entrance hall, half-demolished with fire and age as snow blanketed every burnt surface. "It was yesterday morning, a few hours before you arrived."

He didn't respond, instead slowly touring the room, looking for a sign of human presence in the white layered hall. Snow crunched underfoot as he approached where she had indicated, closing his eyes and spreading his reiatsu in an attempt to sense what he could not see.

"There is something strange," he said after a moment of silence. "A barrier of some sort…? No. Not a barrier. A ward. One of the human magicks." With that revelation, he briskly strode out of the room, Kimiko hurrying to keep up. When they were within twenty yards of a still mostly intact building, he slowed. Kimiko shuddered as something washed over her, and she felt a sudden urge to go do something else. Her cousin took a deep breath, as if trying to breath in the power in the air.

He could feel the magick in the area, protectively surrounding what seemed to be the old servants' quarters and urging he and his cousin to leave, to ignore the place. It was so different from the reiatsu barriers that were common at home, yet at the base, so very similar. It was powerful, drawing its power from the ambient magic in the air and vegetation, and very old in design.

"_I know this magick," _he thought. "_It has been shown to me before." _Silently, he willed himself to remember when he had felt this force. It was similar enough to the common human magicks to be identified with them, yet different enough to be something else. Something older. His mind conjured up images of traveling to one of his family's many properties with his grandfather, studying the area as he was lectured on and taught one of the many ways humans had trained their spiritual powers. "_It is old," _he realized. "_From the Dark Ages. And the nature of it… it is Gallic."_

He knew how to cancel it. All he needed to know about wards was when it was used and the country it originated from. The technique he had been taught was broad enough to handle it from there. Quietly, he began murmuring under his breath, Latin words flying from his lips, charged with his reiatsu and his will behind it. His cousin watched as the ward began unraveling, flaring up in a deep violet as the power escaped into the atmosphere. In a matter of minutes, it was gone, and he continued into the building, every step treading with resounding caution.

Inside, it was very dirty. Grime covered the walls, and the small room he found himself in was almost bare. A stack of wicker baskets stood in one corner, supposedly the ones his cousin had left, and a small fireplace was in the center of the far wall, flickering weakly. A pile of blankets and clothes were in front of it, seeming to be as close to the heat as it could without lying on the hearthstone.

To the left of the baskets was a door that led into a hallway. Sighing, he began checking the rooms connected to it. He found her in the farthest room, shivering over a stone with some sort of rune on it and muttering something too low to be heard. He could feel the magick in the air pulse and twist, and he took a further step in, despite the aching ("_artificial," _his mind hissed) urge to leave.

He kept going until he was just behind her, fighting against the magick the entire way, and knelt. "Hisana," he said softly. At the first syllable, she jumped, spinning halfway as she propelled herself away, landing with a crash and knocking the stone over. Immediately, the power that had been building up disappeared, vanishing into the walls and floor as its anchor was upset. "Hisana!" In an instant, he was at his wife's side, reaching out to aid her. She flinched back, raising her arm protectively. He paused, concerned.

Slowly, she opened her eyes, peering past her arm and startling at the sight of her husband. "B-Byakuya-sama," she whispered. Relaxing at the recognition, she allowed him to help her into a more comfortable position and pulled herself to her feet.

"Hisana," he murmured, wrapping an arm around her back and pulling her against his chest. "My beautiful Hisana." His eyes closed as he reveled in her scent, something he had longed for for years.

"Byakuya-sama… how?" she breathed, staring wide-eyed at him. After all the effort she had gone through to hide where she had gone… how had he found her?

"Do you remember my cousin, Kimiko?" He felt the urge to laugh in amusement and elation at her expression. "She has been leaving you food and supplies, and she sent me a letter. I am so glad to have found you, my Hisana."

"The one who's been leaving the baskets," she murmured in realization. "I had wondered…" She shivered as the wind howled outside, pushing more of its cold, bitter air through the cracks in the wall and into the room. Her husband quickly shed the long trench coat he wore, draping it securely around her shoulders.

"It is too cold to stay here much longer, and you are certainly not wearing enough to keep very warm. Shall we go meet Kimiko and go to Uncle Yuudai's home? We can continue our conversation inside." He looked at her worriedly, taking in her pale, sickly complexion and violent shaking. She had been in the cold for far too long.

"Yes, that sounds wonderful, Byakuya-sama."

~oOo~

Kimiko met them just outside where the ward barriers had been and, after exchanging greetings and heartfelt words, led them back to the three-story hôtel that her father owned. They were silent on the way back, the young lord and his wife focusing on the cold and their cousin being mindful of the phrase: "Do not speak unless spoken to."

The silence was happily broken when they entered the lavish entrance hall, warmth and laughter and the babbling of children a welcome change from the howling wind. Servants rushed forward to take their coats, and the lord of the house greeted them enthusiastically.

Byakuya gave a faint smile as he and his wife were suddenly swept upstairs. Out of all of his uncles (and he had many, for his grandmother and grandfather had loved each other with a distinct passion), Yuudai was certainly his favorite – being the third son of a man who controlled a bit over a fourth of the Seireitei, he stood to gain very much in his inheritance, but he had a certain lack of ambition that made it so, while he would certainly work hard to bring further prestige to the Kuchiki name, he would not be inclined to find seek power for himself through his increasingly busy nephew as many of his brothers were wont to do.

Hisana was given fresh clothes to change into as Byakuya was served tea in the upstairs parlor, a roaring fire in the fireplace and a human space-heater on at full blast beside it to chase away any lingering chill. He smiled when Kimiko came in. The children's nanny trailed after her, holding a twin in each arm while they giggled and stared about the room. He nodded to his cousin and took his children from their caretaker, setting them on the settee next to him. "You will see your mother again soon," he informed them, despite being fairly sure they couldn't understand him. "Perhaps then we may be a proper family."

Hisana was surprised when she came in, warm and bundled up to drive away her cold (the servants told him that she had miraculously avoided anything more serious). She took a moment to admire the room before allowing her eyes to stray to her husband. When they did, she gasped. Byakuya gave a light smile when she looked at the children playing next to him before rushing over and embracing them, holding the squealing toddlers to her chest.

"Mama!" They giggled and shrieked in her arms, squirming as young children were wont to do.

"My children! My children! Oh, how I missed you!" She looked down adoringly at them before startling. What were they doing in France? Her gaze returned to her husband. "But how? They were in England, not six months ago!"

"With James and Lily Potter?" he asked. His son paused in his playing, blinking at the familiar names.

"_Mummy?_" The word was English, rather than the oriental language his parents were speaking. "_Daddy?"_

Hisana froze before shaking her head at the child. "_No, my Hadrian. Not Mummy or Daddy anymore. They are your Aunt and Uncle."_ She looked shyly at her husband. "If you do not mind, Byakuya-sama."

He contemplated it and shook his head. "Not at all. It would do the Kuchiki family a dishonor to show such disregard to those who cared for our heir and princess."

"_Unca?"_ The girl questioned.

"_Yes, Elladora. Uncle James and Aunt Lily, yes?"_

She giggled. "_Unca Jam's!"_

Byakuya watched as his wife showered the little girl with kisses, taking the boy in his arms when the position proved to be awkward at best. "But what happened, Byakuya-sama? To the Potters, I mean."

He sighed and pulled out the letter he had found when he first discovered the children. Research had concluded that the sender, Albus Dumbledore, was the headmaster of the school that the Potters, whom he claimed to be the children's parents (he had scoffed when he had read that. Their reiatsu alone disproved it), had attended, the leader of a vigilante group against the self-styled Lord Voldemort (who had killed the Potters, coincidentally. He was still trying to find out _why_), and a major leader in the British magical world. What he wanted to know was why such a person would be near his children.

"The Potters have died," he said solemnly, despite never having met them. "The children were sent to Lily Potter's sister, Petunia Dursley. I found her address when I was searching for you, and I found the children there." He neglected to mention _where_ or _how _he had found them. He didn't want to distress his wife.

"Died? Oh, my poor cousin, to have died so young!" She buried her face in her hands, and her daughter reached up with a pudgy hand in concern.

"It is unfortunate," he said, taking her hand in his own. "I contacted the shinigami patrolling in their area – they have passed on to the Soul Society. We will look for them, and you shall see your –" He paused "– your cousin again."

She gave him a weak smile. "Thank you, Byakuya-sama."

* * *

**Safest does not mean best. In these circumstances, "best" would mean the place that would allow the children to grow up happily with guardians who genuinely cared for well-being whereas "safe" means the place where they would be the most protected from Death Eaters who want vengeance for their master's death. Dumbledore's priority was finding somewhere they would be able to survive, not somewhere they can be nurtured with the constant threat of death.**


End file.
